Fishing line spreader



April 15, 1952 I G. N. RlSTlNE 2,592,741

FISHING LINE SPREADER Filed May 22, 1950 INVENTOR EEDHEEN. Rzsnua 8 g;TTORNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1952 OFFICE FISHING LINE SPREADER George N.Ristine, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application May 22, 1950, Serial No. 163,503

2 Claims. 1

My invention relates to a spreader for fishhooks and particularly to aspreader used in conjunction with two hooks and a sinker.

Heretofore, fishhooks have been held on a spring wire or gut and wheretwo hooks have been used they have been held apart by a Spreader. Thepurpose of the spreader is to prevent entanglement of the hooks with oneanother. In the prior art one end of the line contained a fishhook andthe other end of the line contained a sinker. However, to my knowledge,there has never been a fishing leader or spreader wherein both lines areprovided with a hook with a de-- tachable sinker therebetween forproperly balancing the said hooks.

It, therefore, is an object of my invention to provide a fishing linespreader wherein both lines are provided with a hook and a detachablesinker positioned therebetween, as it is well-known that a balanced,symmetrical leader is of advantage to the art of fishing.

Another object of my invention is to provide a balanced symmetricalleader with provision for easily attaching and detaching a sinkertherefrom.

Another object of my invention is to provide a spreader wherein thefishhooks on the end of the line will not interfere with each other orwith the sinker therebetween.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved fishing linespreader that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy inconstruction, and which is highly effective in use.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in thedetails of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully.understood from the following description, when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a leader embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the sinker attachment device andspreader bar.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Referring now in greater detail to my invention I show in Fig. 1 aleader comprising a pair of diverging strands I 0, I2 of gut preferablyformed from a one-piece element of gut doubled over at a point wherebythey diverge forming two individual substantially parallel strands atthe lower end and a loop M for attachment to a swivel 16 at the upperend.

The .folded back portions Ill, l2 of the leader are clamped together bymetal sleeves I8, 20 one of which forms the upper loop I4 and the otherfixes the point from where the strands l0, l2 diverge. The free endsIDA, l2A of the diverging strands l0, ii! are folded back and fastenedby sleeves 22, 24 to provide loops 10B and [23 at the lower ends of theleader to provide for attachment of a swivel and hook assembly to each,designated as 26.

A spreader-bar 30 is provided to keep the divergent strands [I], I2apart and in a symmetrical relation to each other. This is accomplishedby placing the spreader bar 30 in a horizontal position with. itsmid-point directly under the metal sleeve 20 where the strands divergeso that the spreader is arranged in triangular relationship with thediverging strands l0, l2. The spreader bar 30 is solid with itsdownturned ends formed into sleeves 3|. The sleeves 3| are turneddirectly downward and one sleeve 3| is fixedly clamped to a portion ofthe strand III, while the other sleeve 3| is fixedly clamped to aportion of the strand l2.

The strand of wire 32 is clamped within the sleeve 20, along with thestrands Ill, l2, at the apex of the triangle formed by the said strandsand the spreader bar 30.

The wire 32 passes downwardly and around the spreader bar 30 forming aloop 32A which helps to support the spreader bar but whose chieffunction is to keep the sinker 34 centrally positioned with respect tothe hooks on the divergent strands l0, l2. The loop 32A is heldcentrally positioned on the' spreader bar 30 by means of the sleeves 36clamped on each side of the loop 32A. The wire 32 is also provided witha hook 323 for supporting the sinker 34. A partially open loop 320 isformed in the wire .32 at a point adjacent the free end of the hook 323.The partially open loop 32C is utilized to lock the end of the hook 32Bso the sinker 34 cannot slip oil. The free end of the hook 323 restsbetween the two sides of the loop 32C when the'hook. is locked. To openthe hook 32B the free end of the hook must be pressed until it isoutside the loop 320, at which time it is moved slightly to one side andreleased, somewhat in the manner of a safety pm.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, suchdescription is intended as merely illustrative rather than limiting, asmy invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the inventionis to be determined as claimed.

a distance from said closed loop and a hook at the end of said wirewhose free end-is adjacent said partially open loop; a spreader barpassing through said closed loop, the ends cream-spreader bar beingformed into downwardlyaurnedclampsclamped on different portions of saidone-piece element, and a pair of metal sleeves fixedlyclamped on saidspreade'ribar on each side of said closed loop to hold said spreader barin fixed relationshipwith said wire.

2. A fishing leader comprising a one-piece element doubled over forapredetermined distance whereafter the strands of said one-piece elementdiverge, a plurality of clamping sleeves, one of said clamping sleevesbeing locatedadjacentathe point of :doubling over of said one-pieceelement to form a loop in the doubled over portion of said one-pieceelement, a second of said clamping sleeves being located adjacent thepoint where said strands diverge to hold said doubled over poition ofsaid one-piece element to provide strands in parallelism, and a pair ofsaid clamping sleeves each being clamped over a difierent doubled overend of a diverging strand to form a loop at the end of each of saiddiverging strands, a wire held by said second clamping sleeve, said wirebeing formed with a closed loop at a predetermined distance from saidsecond clamping sleeve and a partially operildbp at a idistaiicei-fromsaid first closed loopFone end of said wire defining a hook whose freeend is adjacent said partially open loop, a spreader bar passing throughsaid closed loopy-the ends of said spreader bar being formed intodownwardly turned clamps each of which is clamped on'ea' portion of a,different one of said diverging ;s.trands, and a pair of metal sleevesfixedly damped-"on said spreader bar, said sleeves being'ilo'cated oneon each side of said closed loop to hold said spreader bar in fixedrelationship 7 with said wire.

GEbR'GE' 'N; RISTINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in'the file 0f"this patent: V

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 .Name' Date H H-ickson -.Dec. 27, 1949 Number

